In all my efforts to think of ways to recycle and reuse; to be frugal and wise with my "things", I learned an interesting thing about my dad.

I visited my parents at their "new" farm (they just moved there Labour Day Weekend) and was struck by how my dad just naturally reuses, recycles and is very careful with his resources.

One of the first things dad showed me were the dehumidifiers in the basement of the farm house. "They both get filled up regularly with the water from the air" he said and then he got this happy glint in his eye. "Do you want to know what I do with it?" he asked. Dad can't stand the thought of throwing out all that water so he boils it. After he boils it, he uses jars that he found left over in the house when they moved in. Dad fills the jars with the boiled water and stores them on shelves. He tells me that the water has been purified through the de-humidifier first and then sanitized through the boiling process. He can now use the water in the jars to make coffee, in cooking, for drinking... Isn't that amazing?

I'm a little shocked at how naturally my dad does these things. I just don't think I've ever really taken any notice of the ways he respects and takes care of the resources given to him. I hope that someday, my use of the resources I've been given are as natural and as thorough as his.